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The 2021 Ascot Gold Cup winner, Subjectivist, has been retired.

The son of Teofilo won six times from twenty outings in a career that spanned over four seasons with a highlight success coming when landing the 2021 Ascot Gold Cup by five lengths. It was a second top-level victory following an impressive display in the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp in 2020.

Subjectivist suffered a career-threatening tendon injury following Ascot Gold Cup glory in 2021 and was subsequently not seen until finishing down the field in the Group 3 Longines Red Sea Turf Handicap in Saudi Arabia in February this year. The six-year-old left that effort well behind when third in the Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan a month later and filled the same spot at Royal Ascot, in what would to be his final start, in June.

Father of current license holder Charlie, Mark Johnston, who trained him throughout much of his career, said: "We have known this was coming, it's been difficult keeping him going.

"I had slightly mixed feelings about his run at Royal Ascot as while he ran a good race, I didn't think it was as good as his best of two years ago.

"The objective was to get him to Ascot and then we hoped we might get him to Goodwood, but it has always been there, rumbling away.

"His Gold Cup win was the highlight, but he won three races on the bounce, two at Group 1 level and one at Group 2, with his win in Dubai being very impressive – you could say that was his purple patch, those seven or eight months."

A career at stud could beckon for the two-time Group 1 winner as Mark Johnston added:

"There were a couple of people interested after his Gold Cup win and one of those has kept in touch, so we will see what happens."